See the Bright Side of Food Allergies

Kyle’s Favourite Products

Food Allergy Canada has released a book for teens that I fully endorse. It’s titled “The Ultimate Guidebook for Teens with Food Allergies” and contains 21 chapters of insightful tips, stories and advice from teens. It’s not a “preachy” book at all – it simply delivers information that teens can relate to and learn from before they encounter tricky situations themselves.

I have worn a medical ID all of my life and am pretty savvy by now at snapping bracelets on and off. Nothing ever prepared me for the fun that would come with trying to get bracelets on a crew of various sized puppets! That’s exactly the scenario I faced while filming an allergy awareness video for kids!

The end result was perfect: a series of characters flaunting their beautiful medical IDs graciously donated to the project by Lauren’s Hope. One of the main puppet characters is named Suzie, and she sported a really cool beaded bracelet [shown above]. I rocked the paracord bracelet and loved that the smooth fabric didn’t scratch my guitar while playing!

One of the songs in the educational video is called “Cool Bracelet” and is aimed at normalizing food allergies, and the precautions needed such as wearing medical ID. In the video, I explain some of the features of why these bracelets are so cool and that you should look for them if you ever see someone feeling sick or in distress. What other piece of jewelry can help you out in an emergency? Plus look really funky!

Unlike my puppets, I don’t use tape to keep mine one, but I wear mine so much you might be fooled! As someone who has experienced anaphylaxis before, I don’t take the chance with my condition and feel more secure when I’m wearing my medical ID.

I thank Lauren’s Hope for joining me to help spread food allergy awareness!

I first met Becca from Red Plate Foods at the Portland FARE walk in August. I remember it like it was yesterday, as that was the day I ate the BEST cupcake of my life! (With an nut + egg allergy, this is a big deal!) Becca offered my wife (gluten-free) and I both a sample cupcake as we left the event. We ate them while driving away, and after only a few bites, started giving each other those wide-eyed “this is incredible” looks, and the “Mmmmm’ing” out loud sounds! We realized we hit baked allergy-friendly gold!

Fast-forward to October when I was back in Portland to perform at local schools. Sure enough, I ran into Becca again! This time, more samples….cookies, cupcakes and muffins. ALL were simply amazing. I offered a few cookies to a family I was staying with, and they looked at me like I was handing over the keys to a Porche! They TOO knew of Red Plate Foods and were giddy about receiving the samples!

Becca’s company might just be the best kept secret out there. She just expanded to offer shipping of her baked goods. With the holidays coming, grab some of these treats and be the hit of your allergy-friendly holiday party! PS – please invite me and save a cupcake! 🙂

If you know my music, you know that my songs are very upbeat and always carry a positive and optimistic message. This is no fluke! Studies show that children with food allergies have a higher quality of life when they maintain a positive attitude over their food allergies.

When I first read one of “The No Biggie Bunch” books, I fell in love with the positive tone and and characters who are not only empowered over their allergies, but also help educate their friends. Essentially, if I were ever to write a book, it would be “The No Biggie Bunch”!

The title of the gang is really fitting. Food allergies are “no biggie” once you know all the steps to stay safe. We all know that there is a long adjustment period after diagnoses, but it’s important that children begin to accept and learn to thrive with food allergies.

The five “No Biggie Bunch” books can help allergic kids become more comfortable with their food allergies. The unique allergic characters, and one character who has no allergies, give kids someone to identify with – I personally like Eliot who is also allergic to eggs!

The books are also great classroom resources that can teach non-allergic kids to understand allergies and how they can keep their allergic friends safe. One of the books, Everyday Cool with Food Allergies, a No Biggie Bunch collaboration with allergist Dr. Mike Pistiner, teaches kids (and grown-ups) food allergy management in a positive, friendly way.

The two No Biggie Bunch creators, Heather Mehra, a mother of food allergic children, and Kerry McManama, a writer and champion of kids with food allergies, use situations and feelings unique to children with allergies which kids can identify with.

There is always at least one No Biggie Bunch book in my guitar case ready to go should I ever be around a group of children for some story time before or after a concert.

After performing at schools across North America for 6 years, I have decided to bring in sponsors to the mix. I am still a fully independent musician and educator and will never include any advertising of any kind in a school setting. The messaging that I provide to students about food allergies has always been, and will always be pure without any type of hidden agenda. On a side note – one guy once accused me of being the Bob Dylan of the allergy world and that I was trying to influence legislation in British Parliament through music! Ummm Nope!

I know the first thing that many people think about when they hear the word “sponsor” is money. Please let me assure you that this is not the case with me. I have given companies and organizations the chance to sponsor my “Road to No Reaction” tour for three main reasons:

To grow the reach of allergy awareness – Although I will be raising awareness for their product/service, they will also help raise awareness about my music and performances – which ultimately will lead to more opportunities to educate others.

To let the allergy community know about products/services I support – I am not promoting random things like aluminum foil 🙂 I would also never promote a product/service that I don’t believe would help the allergy community. Please view my sponsors as companies/organizations that have my stamp of approval!

To invest in what I do – I try to keep my speaking fees as low as possible to prevent the cost of my shows from being a barrier to schools. The additional money I receive from sponsorship will go directly back into my show in the form of new equipment/props and assist with the development of an educational resource binder that I will leave behind at every school to help keep the message going long after my visit.

So does this mean I’m going to perform with logos tattooed all over my body!?

Absolutely not!

But here’s what you can expect over the coming weeks as I embark on my largest tour to date:

A blog post and a Facebook post about each company/organization

Kyle Dine “original” jingles written for the top level sponsors

Logos seen in various places including my website and Facebook timeline banner

I am very excited to share more info about all of my tour sponsors with you soon! I have spoken to all of them and know first hand they are all as passionate about raising food allergy awareness as I am. I am grateful that they are “all aboard” the tour and that they support my passion to educate children about allergies.

I am excited to announce that this will be the first time that I am bringing sponsors on board. As I travel across the country I want to help others learn about allergy aware companies that I believe in. There are so many companies that are providing amazing products, services and resources that it can almost be overwhelming to know what’s what. I hope by aligning with certain companies that my fans can learn more about companies that may make their lives easier. I have been in direct contact with companies that I would like on board and so far I’ve had a really positive response!

Proceeds will help me revamp my show as well as assist with costs of putting together a food allergy resource binder. My goal is to give all of the schools I perform at worksheets and resources that will keep allergy education going long after my performance.

I have three fun sponsorship levels that companies can select:

Ukulele

Banjo

Guitar

The one deliverable I’m most excited about is to write a jingle for Guitar level sponsors. Jingles are one of my favourite types of songs to write! I am a jingle junkie and have a little TOO much appreciation for all of the old gum jingles – “Big Red” being my all time favourite!